


Breathe

by TheDragonQueen



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-25
Updated: 2015-07-25
Packaged: 2018-04-11 05:39:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4423469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDragonQueen/pseuds/TheDragonQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A post-Mass Effect 3 short story</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathe

_Beep!_

What was the last thing she remembered?

One part of her wanted to say fire, and brimstone, and hell; another part of her wanted to say breathing.  The rest of her couldn’t tell the difference between the two.

_Beep!_

She remembered sitting next to someone.  Talking to them.  Looking over, and realizing they were gone.  She remembered dragging herself across the cold floor, not even feeling a sliver of relief at the touch of cool metal against her aching body.  She remembered feeling momentarily weightless.  And then forcing herself to stand.  Ignoring the pain.  Ignoring the hell she left behind her.  Ignoring the black haze she saw lying before her.

_Beep!_

She remembered lifting her arm, before heat coursed along her body.  And she remembered everything going dark.

_Beep!_

She remembered breathing.

_Beep!_

A warm hand on her shoulder.  Everything hurting.  Unable to escape the blackness, unable to move, unable to breathe.  Someone whispering in her ear.  What were they saying?

_Beep!_

Someone crying.  Breathless words.  Words she should listen to, but she couldn’t make anything out.

_Beep!_

She felt something wrapped around her hand.  She almost thought it was some kind of cast, but it was too big, too loose.  She tried to open her eyes.  It was hard, though.  Harder than anything she’d done before.  She heard a gasp from somewhere.  A feather-light touch shortly after.

A whispered name.  A name she should know.

_Beep!_

Finally.  She opened her eyes at last.  She opened them slowly; it hurt too much to do otherwise.  A room.  Steel blue and gray.  A soft green glow emanating from somewhere.   _A door_ , she thought.  She tried to turn her head to find out the source of the noise, any noise, but nothing was working.  Nothing except her eyes.

So, she looked to her right.  Someone blue?  A moment later, she realized,  _An asari_.  An asari she knew.  Though, she remembered her looking a lot better than she did now.  Liara looked like she hadn’t slept in days.  That wasn’t like her.  The asari was always a hard worker, but she at least tried to keep herself in good health, at least most of the time.  But, now, she looked exhausted.

_Beep!_

She briefly wondered why.  Until she followed the asari’s gaze to her left.  Something was laying next to her; in fact, partially on her.  No, not something, some _one_.  Liara whispered the figure’s name again.  And she knew that name.  But it was like trying to hear through soundproof glass.

She felt the figure’s hand twitch and realized it was what was wrapped around her own.  She looked down at the hand as it tightened around hers.  And that’s when she noticed it had three fingers, not five.

The figure stirred.  And when he rose, she remembered the turian’s name.

_Beep!_

The sound drew her attention from Garrus.  She was growing irritated of that beeping, whatever it was.  Though, she couldn’t express her irritation without wincing, which just hurt more.  Trying to appease her irritable curiosity, she looked on her other side to find a machine.  Every second or so, it would beep, and the little line on its screen would spike.

Liara said something and got up, moving to the door.  She wanted to stop her or ask where she was or what was going on.  Anything.  But even just trying to move her toe was painful.  Then, Garrus squeezed her hand, gently though it still hurt slightly.

“It’s alright, Shepard.  You’re all right.”  He sounded like he was trying to make himself believe it just as much as he wanted her to.

“Just breathe.”

And she realized she was.  She was breathing.


End file.
